The Somerset reporter., 1887-04-27
GRAVELOTTE'S GRAZ
THE SPOT WHERE soooo
WE'RE SLAIN FOR oLoNy.
Brief Description Of tho battle Fisld-A
German Commanders Blunder-The
Grinding of tho Murderous Mitrail-
Ieuses-The Land Uttered with Graves.

A.
brief Descripho" "i WV ~
German Commanders biunder-The
Grinding of tho Murderous Mitrail-
.T,. land I,t..r.d with Grav...
The village of Gravelotte Is formed by
two lanes of houses at right angles. The
one on the main route leads along q
plateau for some hundreds OF yards, then
suddenly descends into ravine which
crosses it, also at right angles, the road
then ascending pretty steeply for quarter
of a mile to the ever famous farm house
of St Hubert. This road and the ravine
on either side of it witnessed the bloodiest
hours of the last war, and it is not easy to
write with composure Of them immedi-
ately after one has passed BY the move
ments of the two forces, as every one who
followed the earlier details OF the struggle
knows, the Germans were In possession of
the village-that is, were on the French
side of the battle field-and the five divi-
sions of the French forces, under five COM
manders, were on the German side, with
Bazaine and Metz in their rear. The
French artillery was along the heights OPP
posite Grayelotte, and at St. Hubert stood
the mitrailleuses, only too successful here,
whatever they may have been at other
times.
SOMEBODY BLUNDERED.
Along the chaussee which winds from
the village of Grayelotte across the ravine,
and nm to the farm house of ST. Hubert
on the height opposite, Won Zastrow sent
German artillery, infantry and at last
Uhlnns straight into the teeth of the
French on the hill secure in their three
tiers of rifle pits and behind rows of artil-
lery and mitraillenses-straight at "the
lightning of the lips of guns" The order
To advance thus was a blunder, or at best
n misunderstanding and the brave Ger
mans who obeyed it fell rank by rank till
the road and the whole ravine were COW
cred with their bodies; then as the rush
became more desperate the men went
down literally by sections. My guide over
the field instinctively lowered his voice as
he smoke of the grinding of the mitrail-
lenses and the moving down OF each line
of men as it appeared struggling up from
below. Even next morning Archibald
Forbes found not only, of course, the
whole place deep with dead but German
blood positively in puddles along this
road. The Uhlans were sent to cover the
retreat when the failure of the attack be-
came evident, but Peter Keenan's charge
Mt Charlottesville was not more utterly
hopeless effort. The regular tactics of
the Swiss pikemen Of the Sixteenth CEN
fury. when It was clearly understood that
the three or four front ranks of the pha-
lapx would fall at the first onset with the
"Landsknechts, and the others march
over their bodies, afford the closest paral-
lei to the advance Of Lastrow's men across
this ravine.
An idea Of the carnage Of the whole
battle of Aug IL may be gathered from
the statement that there were ll2,OOO
French and ell 900 Germans Including
reserves) engaged in 1t, and that over H.
600 French and 20, 600 Germans fell there
Lord Wolseley has put on record the state
ment that the proportion OF French to area
was ten and a half men per yard. And
all the time this was going on Bazaine lay
miles in the rear with the French imperial
guard, holding it in readiness to REINFORCE
his left wing, which was in an absolutely
mpregnable position, while his right was
slowly and surely being driven in and
round. 'Le cochonv' said my guide. st.
Private, where the conditions were almost
the same, is known as ''the tomb of the
guard" the Prussian guard alone having
lost that afternoon no fewer than 315 Off
GERS and Z, 7S5 men. When at last, and at
nightfall, the French evacuated St. HUI
bert, out Of 700 men who had defended
that particular spot 300 remained. Ny
guide was one of these; hence his emo
ton.
UTTERED WITH GRAVES.
All this. however. has to be recon-
structed from memory and imagination.
! and it is not until one begins to ascend
the road that lends on from St. Hubert
| that the actual things before ones ewes
become impressive and indeed almost
awful On eocb side of the road n rich
and hiphlv cultivated country rolls AWAY
for several miles TO the horizon Dozens
of p1ow tennis are dotted over II and the
great curved fnrrows of which 7 have
already snol;en give II tbo annearance Of a
bugc dorl; brown strand from which the
ocean has gradually receded Rut
for the moment ono notices na,tber
nloyvmcn nor fnrrovs nor fertile
felds INIT only groveo Tho whole
country. side no for no Won can 500 ia
littorod with them I;ttia Graves With
s,nol, white wooden crosses on than eoch
croqs beorino its wreath where some
boudfuls Of comrodns lilo. l;ttia Graves
With bi, on1 conor,II, -, 49,,
49,. O''o 'S. o,i'oi ieii' iionu
~ " "''Nii nv sipSN si"'o ohn 10